For 5th straight year, Rockford tops in collaring drunken drivers

For the fifth straight year, Rockford has cuffed more drunken drivers than any other Illinois city outside Chicago, according to an annual survey by the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists.

A total of 686 impaired drivers were arrested in Rockford last year, followed by Naperville with 622 and Springfield with 553.

The Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists surveyed police departments around the state about their DUI arrests through a grant from the Illinois Department of Transportation. Roughly 76 percent of the 700 departments the group contacted provided data.

AAIM officials say topping the list does not necessarily mean a city has more drunken drivers than other cities.

“It does indicate a more active enforcement effort targeting DUI by those police departments compared to other departments,” AAIM Executive Director Charlene Chapman said in a news release.